Very early lease return to upgrade possible?

[Leafdom]

I have a 2013 S model with about 13 months into a 3 yr lease. We really love the car but wish we had gotten the SV model with the heat pump... given the current deals, is it possible for me to get out of my current lease and into a new one without losing our shirts? Is this even an option for us? This is our first lease so we aren't too familiar with the soaking we might get. Wondering if anyone has done this? Otherwise we just wait out our lease and then upgrade in 2 years.

We have 13 months on it, 15,000 miles logged and a 15k/yr lease at roughly 260/mo including taxes. We're very happy with everything except the lack of a heat pump for longer winter drives.

 

[Roadburner440]

I'm not sure what your residual is, but either way you are almost certain to lose your shirt as you put it. I am at month 34 of a 39 month lease and if I tried to "get out" I would be in the negative pretty far, and my residual is only $16,838. However for them to get you out of your lease they basically have to take your car in on trade. So you would have to pay your residual value on your contract, plus the 23 payments you have remaining. Then pay the difference (or roll it over in to a new lease) between that and what they give you on the trade in value. Not to mention the $300 buy out fee, and you would also have to pay the sales taxes on the residual value of the car possibly in your state depending on the laws.

The only halfway decent scenario is just to pay the 23 payments probably, and get the car inspected for damage and pay any of that and turn it in. If you are getting another Nissan they will waive the $395 disposition fee. Either way in all of the scenarios I tried using to trade out of my lease that was the only financially feasible situation I had. Now I will be keeping my 12' forever so you see how that worked out. :lol: So my advise is to stay put, but the choice is yours. The dealerships will be more than happy to get you out of your current lease, and in to a new one I can promise you that. Mine has tried diligently for the last 2 years to get me to jump out even though it was going to cost me well over $10,000 in the negative to do so. I have ridden mine out, and I suggest you do the same with yours. You might be in a better position than me if you live in one of the states like Cali with a huge state rebate on top of federal. Either way though expect a loss. I would be more than happy to answer any other specific questions you have if you wanted to know more about how the process works. We did turn in our Volt and that was a pretty flawless transaction other than the waiting forever for it to be inspected. I kept that the full 36 months though so that was just a normal lease termination.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

lets not overestimate the value of the heat pump. where do you live?

you pretty much would have to pay out your current lease. This would not provide you any trade in value technically although I would have to think most dealers would give you some allowance on a car that would two years newer than expected with much lower miles than expected.

your best bet is talk to the dealer since they would have some control over the offer

 

[TimLee]

... Now I will be keeping my 12' forever so you see how that worked out. :lol: ...

But you are able to do that because NMAC reduced the 2012 residual $5,000 and you are purchasing it

I think you are correct that the OPs lowest cost current upgrade path is pay 23 $260 payments ($5,980) and turn it in to lease or purchase LEAF with heat pump heater.
Big $ hit.
Big part of why I didn't trade in the 2011 I purchased to upgrade to 2013 SL when they became available in Dec 2012. A $7,000 drop in $ from what I had paid in only 18 months was too much.

OP would need to get pretty good deal, like on a left over 2013, for it to be a reasonable choice. But if one can be found the Nissan $ reduction on them is very large. But up to dealer whether they would lease it, might have to be purchase.

I would suggest hanging on till Gen 2 with longer range comes out.

 

[Roadburner440]

Yeah even my $5000 thing isn't seemingly panning out so far. I have been playing phone tag with the dealer and NMAC as the dealers system still shows my full payoff. So at the moment I am stuck waiting on NMAC to provide the dealer proof they are going to knock the money off before I can push it through. I wish this was like a gift certificate or something where I could just print it out, or get a confirmation number and hand it to the dealer. Nothing is ever that easy though. :roll:

They will trade the car in most definitely. I tried getting mine to do the take the payments and we just clean sheet a new lease. They get fixated on having the car as a cheap trade though. Even when I went to talk to them about the offer they wanted to get me in a 14' S they had sitting on the lot, and were only going to give me $10,000 or so for my car. Then roll the $7000+ over on that 14'. So would have still been in the high $300 to low $400 range at the current $199 lease offer. Cause carrying it over essentially doubles the finance amount based on what the website says.

For the heat issue I pretty much just dress warm, and I wind up turning the heater on/off to keep the windows clear as necessary. On really bad days I crack the window which stops them from fogging as well. Then again without knowing where you live I am not sure how cold we are talking. To me cold is down in the 20's. I can't imagine you going on long drives with a Leaf in anything much colder than that anyway. :lol:

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Yeah even my $5000 thing isn't seemingly panning out so far. I have been playing phone tag with the dealer and NMAC as the dealers system still shows my full payoff. So at the moment I am stuck waiting on NMAC to provide the dealer proof they are going to knock the money off before I can push it through. I wish this was like a gift certificate or something where I could just print it out, or get a confirmation number and hand it to the dealer. Nothing is ever that easy though. :roll:

They will trade the car in most definitely. I tried getting mine to do the take the payments and we just clean sheet a new lease. They get fixated on having the car as a cheap trade though. Even when I went to talk to them about the offer they wanted to get me in a 14' S they had sitting on the lot, and were only going to give me $10,000 or so for my car. Then roll the $7000+ over on that 14'. So would have still been in the high $300 to low $400 range at the current $199 lease offer. Cause carrying it over essentially doubles the finance amount based on what the website says.

For the heat issue I pretty much just dress warm, and I wind up turning the heater on/off to keep the windows clear as necessary. On really bad days I crack the window which stops them from fogging as well. Then again without knowing where you live I am not sure how cold we are talking. To me cold is down in the 20's. I can't imagine you going on long drives with a Leaf in anything much colder than that anyway. :lol:

that is COLD! I see the low to mid 30's a lot in the mornings but evenings its 50/50 it will be upper 30's low 40's or low 50's. just depends on which way the wind is blowing usually

 

[LeftieBiker]

Look into my 'Heater In A Box' topic here. You can either use a deep-cycle battery to power an inverter-ceramic heater setup in the car (and have to keep that battery charged) or carefully tap into the car's 12 volt wiring to power the inverter, undoing the work at lease end. The trick is to heat the foot well area(s) of the car only, allowing you to feel warm even with a fairly low overall temp in the car. This would cost you a very small fraction of what you will pay to upgrade to an SV.

 

[Leafdom]

Thanks everyone, that is what I figured. I'll stay put.

 

[TimLee]

lets not overestimate the value of the heat pump. where do you live?
...

Denver area.
Somewhat colder than Chattanooga and quite a bit colder than Seattle.
Night time average lows are pretty cold at a mile high.
Mid to upper 50Fs in the warmest month of the year, and low to mid 20Fs for four to six months of winter. Heat pump heater would be very helpful there.

Probably a challenge to grow okra there.
Does not produce well with night time temperatures that cold.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

lets not overestimate the value of the heat pump. where do you live?
...

Denver area.
Somewhat colder than Chattanooga and quite a bit colder than Seattle.
Night time average lows are pretty cold at a mile high.
Mid to upper 50Fs in the warmest month of the year, and low to mid 20Fs for four to six months of winter. Heat pump heater would be very helpful there.

Probably a challenge to grow okra there.
Does not produce well with night time temperatures that cold.

ya, that is cold enough to where an SV does have more value than it would in my area. It would be a tougher decision to make. I have tried secondary warming methods for those cold days we get here (both of them...) and nothing works very well but again, its a matter of what you are willing to put up with. Right now, I see temps in the low to mid 30's every morning and I get by (rather easily really) with just seat heaters, heated steering wheel and a Seattle Seahawks stocking hat!